RBWords

[Acts 11:19-26 and John 10:22-30]

     "How long are you going to keep us in suspense?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe.  The works I do in my Father's name testify to me.  But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep."

     There are times in reading all of the gospels that we could sympathize with the question being asked by the Pharisees. "Why doesn't Jesus just come out and say, "Yes!  I'm the Messiah!"   However, the Pharisees are like the newspaper reporters at a press conference trying to get a public figure to use a particular vocabulary that the public figure knows is full of dangerous meanings that will be distorted and analyzed in such a way that any "meaning" the public figure had in mind disappears into the "agenda" of the media!  In this case, the Pharisees want Jesus to take on a title that has nationalistic political meanings for Jew and Roman alike!  His response notes two things:  the Pharisees are not of his "sheep" so they do not hear his voice and do not believe, and "the Father and I are one."  This last line, in the view of the religious authorities, amounts to blasphemy and gives them a "hook" on which to hang their eventual charges against Jesus.

     We must remember that the whole purpose of the Gospel of John is to reveal who Jesus is and invite the reader to belief.  The "signs" that Jesus works are intended to be acts of revelation that tell the truth about Jesus.  However, if we have a personal "agenda" or set of categories that we want Jesus to satisfy, we may be trying to "trump" his statements with our own!  The disciples, in the synoptic gospels, show that they have the "nationalistic" view that Jesus rejects.  He commends Peter for his profession of faith.  We cannot put a political "spin" on Jesus even if his teachings may have an impact on human political arrangements.  If the Pharisees (and we) are frustrated by Jesus' refusal to adopt a title that we have in mind, perhaps it is because we need to open our ears and hear his voice, and open our eyes and see his signs!  AMEN